Localized Mesothelioma Successfully Treated with Chemotherapy and Surgery
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Localized Mesothelioma Successfully Treated with Chemotherapy and Surgery

ByHolly Zink

A patient with a rare, localized malignant pleural mesothelioma has been successfully treated. The patient received chemotherapy and surgery and has been disease-free for 12 months. Many believe that a localized form of pleural mesothelioma might have a better survival outlook. This is compared with patients who have the more common, diffuse variety. This latest report comes from a Japanese team of thoracic surgeons. Local vs. Diffuse Mesothelioma Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer affecting an estimated 2,500 Americans annually. All forms of mesothelioma have been linked to asbestos exposure. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of malignant mesothelioma. Most pleural mesothelioma patients have a type of cancer that tends to spread quickly. It spreds across the thin membrane…

Surgery-Based Multimodal Treatment Improves Survival for Italian Mesothelioma Patients
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Surgery-Based Multimodal Treatment Improves Survival for Italian Mesothelioma Patients

ByAlex Strauss

A new Italian report suggests that a surgery-based multimodal treatment approach to mesothelioma can help patients live longer with few serious side effects.  The new study comes from Careggi University Hospital in Florence. Thoracic oncologists tracked the outcomes of 12 of their mesothelioma patients since 2017. All of the patients had early-stage pleural mesothelioma of the epithelioid subtype. Results showed that none of them died within the first year after surgery-based multimodal treatment. More than half lived for at least three years.  These are considered very positive results for a cancer that often claims lives within months of diagnosis.  Understanding Surgery-Based Multimodal Treatment Some types of cancer can be successfully treated with just one type of therapy. Pleural mesothelioma is…

New Test May Help Doctors Choose the Best Mesothelioma Surgery
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New Test May Help Doctors Choose the Best Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

A new predictive model may make it easier for cancer doctors to choose the best mesothelioma surgery for each pleural mesothelioma patient.  There are two major surgical approaches for pleural mesothelioma. One involves removal of a lung and the other does not.  Right now, the choice about which surgery to have is based on patient demographics, symptoms, and lab values. Which surgery is most common at the institution may also play a role. Many surgeons have strong opinions about which is the best mesothelioma surgery.   But Harvard researchers say the new predictive model they tested is a better way to stratify mesothelioma patients. Their study suggests that this approach may lead to better treatment outcomes and more accurate clinical trials. …

Opdivo for Mesothelioma Recurrence is Safe and Effective, Study Finds
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Opdivo for Mesothelioma Recurrence is Safe and Effective, Study Finds

ByAlex Strauss

A new Japanese study appears to show that Opdivo for mesothelioma recurrence after surgery is safe and effective.  Opdivo (nivolumab) is an immunotherapy drug similar to Keytruda (pembrolizumab). It blocks a protein called PD-L1. PD-L1 helps mesothelioma cells avoid detection by the immune system.  In the latest study, 35 patients received Opdivo for mesothelioma recurrence. More than three quarters of them experienced either stable or decreased disease. Understanding How Nivolumab Works Nivolumab is most often used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. It makes tumors more vulnerable to immune system attack. Pleural mesothelioma has many of the same characteristics as lung cancer. This is one reason researchers are hopeful about Opdivo for mesothelioma recurrence.  The primary treatment for mesothelioma is…

Surgeons Disagree on Definition of Mesothelioma Surgery
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Surgeons Disagree on Definition of Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

When surgery is indicated for mesothelioma, doctors typically turn to one of two procedures: extrapleural pneumonectomy or pleurectomy/decortication (P/D). Of the two, extrapleural pneumonectomy is the most extensive and risky, involving removal of a lung, the lining of the lung, and parts of the diaphragm. Though somewhat controversial, this mesothelioma surgery is well-defined in most centers. In contrast, a new study finds that surgeons vary widely in their definition of pleurectomy/decortication. To get a better understanding of what mesothelioma surgeons mean when referring to P/D, members of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the International Mesothelioma Interest Group conducted a web-based survey of 62 surgeons from 39 medical centers who had performed at least one mesothelioma…

Surgery Remains “Cornerstone” of Mesothelioma Treatment
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Surgery Remains “Cornerstone” of Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

A major new study of more than 14,000 mesothelioma patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2009 finds that surgery appears to have a greater impact on survival than any other form of mesothelioma treatment. Researchers with Mount Sinai Medical Center, North Shore/Long Island Jewish Health System, and Hofstra School of Medicine in New York analyzed data from SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results), a large national database of cancer patients. Only patients with confirmed malignant pleural mesothelioma were included in the study. The researchers divided 14,228 mesothelioma cases by age, sex race, diagnosis year, stage, cancer-directed surgery, radiation and other factors to determine which ones appear to have the most influence on mesothelioma survival. When compared to having no treatment, cancer-directed…

Surgical Experience Improves Outcomes in Peritoneal Mesothelioma
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Surgical Experience Improves Outcomes in Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

When it comes to surgical intervention for peritoneal mesothelioma, the most experienced centers tend to have the best outcomes. The latest study to support this idea comes from researchers in the Peritoneal Malignancy Institute in Basingstoke, UK. The authors of the new study on peritoneal malignancies including mesothelioma published their research in the British medical journal Colorectal Disease. They performed a retrospective analysis on a database of 1,200 patients treated for peritoneal cancers since 1994. Most of these patients had a diagnosis of cancer of the appendix, but just over 5 percent had peritoneal mesothelioma. The goal of the study was to determine trends in cancer survival after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). For peritoneal mesothelioma, the surgery involves…

Lung-Sparing Mesothelioma Surgery Results in Fewer Short-Term Deaths
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Lung-Sparing Mesothelioma Surgery Results in Fewer Short-Term Deaths

ByAlex Strauss

Extrapleural pneumonectomy is the more radical of the two surgeries and involves the removal of a lung along with the diseased pleural lining where mesothelioma tumors start, all or part of the diaphragm, the lining around the heart, and other at-risk tissues. While the complication rate is higher with EPP, some studies have suggested that the surgery may improve the odds of surviving mesothelioma. Pleurectomy/decortication involves the removal of the pleura and many of the same tissues, but leaves the lungs intact. Studies suggest that patients tend to recover from this type of surgery faster. Both types of procedures may be preceded or followed by chemotherapy or radiation to shrink mesothelioma tumors for easier removal or to kill residual cancer cells. Doctors…

Mesothelioma Surgeon Says Proper Staging Key to Radical Surgery Survival
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Mesothelioma Surgeon Says Proper Staging Key to Radical Surgery Survival

ByAlex Strauss

One of the country’s top mesothelioma surgeons has just published a study he says confirms the role of lymph node involvement in survival after radical mesothelioma surgery. Dr. David Sugarbaker, Director of the Lung Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, is one of the most experienced practioners of a radical surgical approach to malignant pleural mesothelioma called extrapleural pneumonectomy. EPP aims to prevent the spread or return of mesothelioma by not only removing the tumor and the pleural lining on which it is located, but also the nearest lung, all or part of the diaphragm, the lining around the heart, and other at-risk tissues. The procedure is controversial because of its high rate of complications and death. Some…

Study Defends Use of Radical Surgery for Mesothelioma
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Study Defends Use of Radical Surgery for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says the controversial extrapleural pneumonectomy procedure for mesothelioma can be performed with “acceptable morbidity and mortality”, as long as certain guidelines are followed. Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) is a large and complex procedure that involves removing a mesothelioma patient’s lung, lung lining, diaphragm and other tissues in an effort stop the spread of mesothelioma. Although some studies have indicated a mesothelioma survival benefit with EPP, the procedure has come under fire because of its high rate of death and complications. But the new EPP study suggests that it can be performed safely. The study evaluated the cases of 251 mesothelioma patients from three high-volume hospitals – University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, Medical University Vienna in Austria, and Toronto…